1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system and a method for online or in-person meetings, and more particularly relates to a system and method for providing pre-assigned meetings based on categories and requests submitted by the event organizer or attendees.
2. Description of Related Art
At most events, it is difficult to meet the right people. The business networking sessions at most events have no structure or technology to assist in the process. Instead, attendees have to identify other interested parties to talk with, and then create an opportunity to talk with that person. Further, if the desired party is already talking with someone else, those who wish to meet him/her need to find a way to capture his/her attention, then introduce themselves to him/her, conduct the conversation, and then end the conversation with enough time to efficiently meet other people at the function. This “typical” process of business networking is inefficient, even for outgoing personalities.
A “speed networking system” is an online platform that enables attendees of an event to efficiently meet other people at the event. Various software applications are known in the art for providing an online platform for facilitating meetings at events. These events can be for various purposes such as business, professional, social, and singles/dating.
Mobile applications currently available for the event industry include features such as personal profiles of the event attendees, automated meeting recommendations, scheduling systems that enable event attendees to arrange their own one-on-one meetings, tradeshow floor maps, conference agenda schedules, conference session recommendations, blogs, social networking and more.
Also, some companies are offering speed networking sessions, but these typically use a “musical chairs” method where participants move sequentially to the next person in line, rather than being assigned to a series of meetings that have been pre-determined to be of mutual interest to both participants. To increase the likelihood of providing mutually desired meetings at an event, there is a need for a system and method that enables categories and meeting requests to be input beforehand that instruct the system to assign, or not assign, meetings to participants, and further, that allows certain users to manually change meeting assignments as needed.